HO Training Programme

Housemanship is an intense period of change where theory translates into practice. It is often described as an apprenticeship where one learns on the job.

The Department of Medicine is unique as it not only offers monthly rotations to general medicine but also multiple clinical specialties such as Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology and Respiratory Medicine, to name a few.

Houseofficers are ensured a minimum of 1 hour/week of protected time for learning and this takes the form of the HO Weekly Report. This is a structured interactive weekly session dedicated to honing skills of evaluation and management of inpatients. Clinical pearls are often dispensed at these sessions. The Department also offers a full weekly CME programme of which, the Monday Acute Medicine Teaching, Thursday Medicine Rounds and Friday Mortality Rounds are helpful sessions for the HOs. In addition, the Department also conducts HO Case Audits twice during each 4-month posting. The aims of these audits are to help HOs attain the highest standards in history taking which is key to diagnosis.

The Department strives to foster interaction between junior and senior staff. Each Houseofficer is assigned a "friendly and approachable" clinical supervisor cum mentor at the start of the rotation, who will provide advice and counsel as well as career guidance. Our DEAR "Drop everything and Relax" event is held once in 2 months, where clinics are curtailed and procedure time blocked for food and fun.

MO Training Programme

Department of Medicine offers postgraduate training opportunities, both for basic (Internal Medicine) [BST] and advanced (subspecialty) [AST] specialty trainees. An active training programme, under the supervision of the departmental postgraduate education committee, ensures an enriching learning experience for the BSTs. Special attention is paid not only towards their educational needs for various examinations including PACES but also towards updating them on a wide range of Internal Medicine topics through structured lectures, journal clubs, radiology rounds, and morbidity & mortality meetings. Feedback is encouraged.

Registrar Training Programme

The Department also offers advanced specialty training opportunities in

• Dermatology▲

  A dermatologist is a qualified medical specialist who, through additional training, has obtained postgraduate qualifications to specialise in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of skin disease, skin cancers, ageing skin and sexually transmitted infections. Dermatologists treat patients of all ages, from babies and children to adolescents and adults. Postgraduate training to become a dermatologist begins after completion of housemanship. This is followed by 5 years of full-time practice and comprehensive training in relevant medical specialties in accredited training institutions. Provisions will be made for trainees interested in experimental research to spend 1 year of training in full time research activities. Trainees will have to pass an intermediate examination at year 2 and an exit examination at year five. Upon successful completion of the exit examination and satisfactory completion of the training programme, the trainee will be recommended for full accreditation as a dermatologist by the Ministry of Health's Specialist Accreditation Board.

• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• General Medicine and Therapeutics▲

  The Division strives to give best-practice evidence based care to our patients. By affiliation with the National University Hospital we actively research the genesis and science-based drug treatment of common disorders, including hypertension and heart failure, in tandem with the Department of Cardiology. The Division critically assesses and applies new knowledge about the actions of drugs and other therapeutic substances to optimize disease treatment. We promote high standards of medical student learning, and run education episodes for our doctors in Advanced and Basic Specialist Training. Some of our trainees work towards dual certification in General Medicine plus another subspecialty.

• Infectious Disease▲

  The training program in Infectious Diseases currently is funded for one position for an advanced specialty trainee in Infectious Diseases. The requirements for this position are the MRCP or equivalent and strong recommendations from at least one Infectious Disease physician. The program is a three year program that is part of the National Training Program conducted by the Infectious Diseases Specialist Training Committee of the Ministry of Health, Singapore. In addition to a busy consult service, trainees are expected to do some basic clinical research and be involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. The program covers nosocomial infections including antibiotic-resistant pathogens and surgical site infections. Other focus areas include infections in immunocompromised hosts, ICU infections, infections in travellers and emerging infectious diseases. Close integration with the clinical microbiology laboratory and the basic science departments of the National University of Singapore are also valued by our trainees.

• Internal Medicine
• Nephrology
• Neurological localisation course for postgraduate candidates▲

  This is a preparatory course in Neurology for candidates of postgraduate membership examinations, such as the MRCP (Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, UK) and the local postgraduate Masters in Medicine (Internal Medicine). In the practice of neurology clinical signs are of paramount importance, and their interpretation relies on good examination techniques and attention to detail. Shorter lengths of hospital stay and a shift towards outpatient care have contributed to a relative shortage of clinical cases, resulting in a lack of exposure to neurological diseases that are uncommon, yet important.

  Patients with good clinical signs, or who have interesting neurological conditions, are recruited for our annual course. Each course is held over a day, with two 3-hour sessions (morning and afternoon). A total of 40-45 patients are divided into 2 groups for the morning and afternoon sessions, the earlier session dedicated to teaching and the later session to a mock clinical examination. Candidates are divided into groups of 4, and rotated through 6 accredited neurologist tutors. Videotaped vignettes are utilised during a lunchtime session to supplement the course. This allows the teaching faculty to discuss and present cases (e.g. rare diseases, unusual signs or signs which were ephemeral) which could not otherwise have been shown during the clinical sessions.

• Respiratory Medicine
• Rheumatology

Each subspecialty ensures an excellent teaching programme through structured teaching sessions that include grand rounds, journal clubs, case discussion sessions, radiology rounds, and research seminars. The wide variety of cases managed under each division guarantees an excellent and even exposure in one's chosen specialty. There are ample informal bedside teaching sessions. Special attention is paid to imparting hands-on skills. Research is encouraged, and ASTs are expected to actively engage themselves in on-going divisional research activities. Presentations at local and international meetings are encouraged and facilitated.

Attention is paid to the fact that trainees have sufficient protected time to engage themselves in the various educational activities. They are assigned educational supervisors to guide them throughout their training period to help them in their quest to achieve academic excellence.